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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Dismissing the Watchman: The Fair Elections Act

Earlier this month the Conservative government under
Stephen Harper (CPC – Calgary Southwest, AB) introduced a piece of legislation
called the Fair Elections Act. The
Orwellian-named piece of legislation has already moved passed second reading
and is now being worked on in committee. It is more than passing reasonable
that this bill will become law before the month is out and change the way
elections are run in this country.

Having had a week the media has begun to sift out some of
the issues in the legislation, or perhaps the problems. If you ask the Minister
of Democratic Reform Pierre Poilievre (CPC – Napean-Carlton, ON) he’ll tell you
the law is designed to combat election fraud. This should be pointed out for
what it is, a red herring bearing little resemblance to the truth, like tightening laws on private citizens' use of the internet and calling it a bill to combat pedophiles. Election
fraud is not a major problem in this
country, at least not because the wrong people are voting.

What election fraud that occurred in the last federal
election seems to have been perpetrated by political parties who lied,
overspent, mismanaged, misdirected and cheated voters. Elections Canada has
been painstakingly trying to reconstruct what happened over the last few
elections and has only become to bring some to some kind of justice. But
Elections Canada was not only toothless in its punishments, but in its
abilities to investigate. The new legislation actually weakens Elections Canada
and moves the power to investigate away from that body.

Other bizarre changes will make it so Elections Canada
will merely oversee elections, and not even advertise civic engagement to
Canadians. Laws will be tightened to make it harder for the poor, the
transient, students and seniors to vote. The Conservatives, like their
Republican cousins in America, are introducing voter identification laws. In
America these are seen as code to exclude minority and lower-income voters, who
skew for the Democrats.

Election fundraising laws will be relaxed, including some
bizarre provisions that will allow parties to write-off money used to raise
money from existing donors. While experts I read seem unsure what this means,
it could mean that if a party throws a gala dinner to fundraise the entire
expense does not have to be claimed. This is an idea rife for abuse. The
individual donation limit will be raised which at the current time is a benefit
to the Conservative Party.

Leading journalists across Canada have concluded that
something untoward happened in the last federal election, which has led some to
doubt the legitimacy of the Harper government. I have never been part of that
camp, but there were many who appear to have been playing fast and loose with
election laws, such as the former Labrador MP and Dean Del Mastro (CPC –
Peterborough, ON). Instead of improving our election laws this bill seems
poised to make abuse easier and consequences less likely. It causes me great
anxiety, and like many things in this country it will pass unnoticed and the
risk not fully realized until after 2015.